


Do You Love Him?

by m_number24



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, M/M, heere being a dad, teenagers being dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-03 18:57:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12152790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_number24/pseuds/m_number24
Summary: After the SQUIP had disappeared, things went back to normal. Better, even. Mr. Heere was a better father, Jeremy had a new set of friends, and Michael was still Jeremy’s best friend. He wouldn’t change anything for the world.Except, maybe the last one.Five (5) Mr. Heere and Michael interactions concerning their beloved Jeremy, and one (1) Mr. Heere and Jeremy interaction concerning Michael.





	Do You Love Him?

**Author's Note:**

> hello there it's 1am and i wrote this and i love michael mell and jeremy i've been listening to the pants song over and over and can't over the 
> 
> "do you love him?"
> 
> "what?"
> 
> part so here we are

 

 

**I.**

 

After the SQUIP incident, Mr. Heere had been doing his best to be a better father. He wore his pants now, and he even cooked breakfast. He and Jeremy talked more and after all those months before his wife had left him, now he was sure he felt whole again. Everything was in place and settled but he couldn’t help the feeling that something was still off.

It was 6:30 in the morning Mr. Heere and Jeremy were sitting on the table, discussing Jeremy’s literature homework on poems. They shared their sentiments on how they were both really bad in that subject to which both ended up laughing at how bad their analysis were once they shared it.

Again, everything was back to normal, which was why Mr. Heere was barely surprised to hear the front door open and close even when it was locked. Another teen had entered the kitchen and sat on an empty chair. The father merely smiled at the kid’s appearance, “Good morning to you, Michael, thanks for ringing the doorbell and knocking.” He meant no heat behind it but he was still an adult and it sure as hell should be known that these kids can’t just enter other people’s houses.

Michael, bless him, grinned back and gave him a quick sorry before saying, “Hey, you gave me a key, Mr. Heere,” Okay, true, “And Jere, here, said you guys had breakfast and I was hungry!” Jeremy had laughed at that. He offered the other kid some food and in a few minutes span, the two were already in their own little world, talking about Apocalypse Blah and making plans on hanging for videogames later. Mr. Heere couldn’t help but smile wider at that though. It was comforting considering the fact that now, these two didn’t mind or feel iffy about talking when he’s around.

The dad took a bite of his toast and his egg before he placed his attention back to the two teens. Jeremy was the one talking, his voice cracking with how excited he was with whatever videogame they were talking about. Heere can’t really relate but he didn’t mind. It was nice being able to watch this. He’d missed this, even. He checked the time and found that he had to go in a few minutes. He was about to open his mouth and tell the boys when all the words got stuck on his throat when he saw how Michael had looked at his son.

His smile was so wide that Mr. Heere even had to double check the lighting of the room if that had anything to do with how his teeth seemed like it were from a commercial. The tanned boy’s back, that was usually hunched lazily when he talked, was up straight, his whole being leaning towards the other boy. Last were his eyes. His eyes that always seemed to droop lazily when having a conversation, were directed at Jeremy, soft and stuck. Like Jeremy was the best thing he’s ever seen, like he hung the moon and made the sun shine and— dear God, Mr. Heere honestly wanted groan in frustration as a distant memory had popped in his head.

 

_“Do you love him?”_

_“What?”_

_Mr. Heere stared at Michael, long and hard, before realization hit him hard. Oh._

_Michael’s eyes were wide, as if caught by surprise with the question. His cheeks were tinted pink and his mouth hung open. Mr. Heere shouldn’t really look much into that but the proper answer for a best friend was a quick, “yes,” right?_

_He noticed the boy’s face get redder and redder and all Mr. Heere could think of was ‘huh, there we go.’ That’s probably the biggest yes he could receive, if he were being honest. It just so happened it wasn’t on a best friend level._

_He spared the boy the embarrassment with continuing what he had to say. “I know he can be a shit sometimes but—“_

“Dad!”

That was Jeremy’s voice. Mr. Heere looked at his son who was staring at him confused, ”You have to leave for work, dad, it’s almost 7.”

The older man had sputtered a surprised, “oh shit” before saying his goodbyes and running to the door, telling the two he loved them. As he drove he reminded himself to speak with Michael, one on one, father to best friend, about how he should get the balls to confess to his son.

 

When Mr. Heere got home, he checked up on Jeremy to find he was not there. He had forgotten he was staying over at Michael’s and had decided to phone their house to remind Jeremy on how he should be home by 10 pm. He was a good dad now. He set rules and shit.

The phone rang and he was met with Michael’s voice.

 

“Hello? Mell residence!”

“Michael!”

“Mr. Heere?”

 

Mr. Heere had reminded them of the 10 pm curfew and was about to hang up when an idea had popped in his head. Giddily, he called for Michael’s name again to which he received a quick, “yessir?”

“Jeremy really likes that melon flavoured ice-cream in 7-eleven. Why don’t you guys pass by for a snack before you get him home. I’ll even extend his curfew to 11 pm if you do so.” Mr. Heere could feel his grin widening at that boy’s confused, “what?”

There was shuffling in the other line, as though the person on the other end had moved places, considering there was less noise.

 

“Mr. Heere?”

“Yes, Michael?”

“Why?”

“Nothing, Michael.”

 

He heard him let out a confused hum but eventually, the boy gave up and said his goodbye before hanging up.

 

Jeremy had went home with a cone and a big smile on his face. Mr. Heere had asked how his night was and the boy let out a soft laugh, “It was nice, dad.”

He took that as a score.

 

 

 

**II.**

 

 

Mr. Heere set dinner up and was very proud of himself when Jeremy’s eyes had widened in awe at the sight of a table filled with decent food.

“Whoa, dad, you made this???”

He nodded, “Yes, I did!” He removed his very fluffy apron and laid it by the counter. Jeremy had helped him set up some plates and cutlery before Jeremy had spoken again.

“This is a lot, though. Will we be able to finish all this?”

Heere had forced himself to keep still and not to do a victory dance. It took a lot to do so.

“Well, son, I got really excited with my new culinary skills, I may have went overboard. You can invite any of your friends, if you’d like?”

“Aw cool! I’ll go call Michael!”

When Jeremy was gone, Heere let himself dance.

 

Mr. Heere was the one to greet Michael at the door once he heard the doorbell ring. The boy was wearing his signature hoodie and a lazy smile on his face, “Hey there, Mr. Heere! Jeremy invited me to dinner, is that cool?” He gave the boy a pat, “Of course, of course, you’re basically my son. _Mi casa es..._ something along those lines.”

Michael merely laughed at that and entered the house. He sat on the couch, like it was normal, all comfy. The father followed and sat beside him.

“So, Michael.”

This was the perfect time to give him the father-best friend talk about his crush on his son but when Mr. Heere had opened his mouth again, he was beaten by Jeremy’s excited call for Michael’s name.

Michael’s attention was quickly hooked on to his best friend, whole being basically lighting up at his son’s presence. Mr. Heere wanted to point out just how precious that was but also, this was his son he was talking about so he wasn’t sure what to feel about this.

He was left staring at their interaction before a bunch of truth bombs got dropped into his brain.

He wasn’t sure if his son even swung for the other team.

Or if Michael wasn’t okay with him helping out.

Man, he really needs to one-on-one with Michael because now that he thought about how he’s setting up his son and his best friend, he just felt like a creepy old man. It was not a good feeling. He cringed at himself.

 

 After a few minutes have passed, he led the two to the kitchen so they could eat. Dinner went by fine, it was comfortable and the conversations were ever-flowing. In a few hours, Michael had to leave, Mr. Heere made sure he was the one to close the door for him.

He watched the two give each other high fives and fist bumps, and it would have been like two bros but it lingered too long and Mr. Heere wasn’t really sure if he was just seeing things or if he just really, really supported these two teens as a couple. He cringed at himself again. _Stop being such a creepy old man, Heere, gosh._

Michael had stepped out of the door and thanked him for dinner. He was about to walk out of the front porch but Mr. Heere had stopped him.

 

“Wait, son. Think I can ask you something?”

Michael gave a shrug and a curious look, “Yeah, what’s up, Mr. Heere?”

“Well, um. Not to be rude or anything. But, remember when we had a talk before we saved Jeremy from the SQUIP?”

 

The teen’s shoulder had tensed a bit but his expression was still calm, “Oh. About you having pants?”

Heere shook his head, “No, son. When you were burning incense?”

Michael’s smile had become tight, the father notes, but he answered still, “Oh! Hah! The, the me as a tool? That could help Jere—“

The older of the two shook his head, “No. You know when I asked you if—“

The next thing he knew was that his mouth was getting covered by a very flustered Michael Mell. His lazy, chill vibes, completely drained out of his features and he even looked like he was sweating.

“For the love of God, please don’t continue that sentence.” He whispered that harshly, just loud enough for Heere to hear. _Heh. Heere to hear._

The two stared at each other, shocked at what was happening.

Michael slowly removed his hand from the adult’s mouth and had wiped his hand on his hoodie. He looked back at Heere with panicked eyes and his face got redder, “Sh-Shit, I’m sorry, Mr. _Heere_ , that was so rude.”

Mr. Heere shook his head, it was his fault, really. I mean, his son could have heard him. What kind of cupid would he be?

It took him a while to process that the kid in front of him was shaking and was having trouble breathing. With panic, he had asked what was wrong and Michael answered back with a deep shaky breath that looked like it took him a hard time to do. He was having a panic attack.

Holy shit.

Was that because of him?

Heere swallowed down his guilt for a few to help his son’s best friend breathe. He counted and had helped him normalize his breathing pattern. Once things were calm, Mr. Heere had looked at Michael, full of concern and guilt.

“Michael, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I shouldn’t have forced you to talk about that.”

Michael looked guilty as well, which confused the father, “You’re not mad?”

_What?_

“For getting my mouth covered?”

“What?”

“What?”

 

The teen let out a shaky laugh, “No, for liking your son? For being gay?”

 

And Heere? Heere wasn’t expecting that. He looked at the boy straight in the eyes and let out a firm, “No. I would never be.”

“Wha—“

“Michael, that’s who you are. That isn’t supposed to be anything to get mad over. I—“

 _God,_ the kid was staring at him with such surprise, he wanted to kick whoever made him think that being gay was bad.

“I actually just wanted to confirm. I just, I wanted to say that I fully support you, son.”

Michael’s jaw had dropped at that, “What? Really?”

He nodded in return. “You make Jeremy happy.”

He then was suddenly wrapped in a hug, “Aw man, Mr. Heere. You’re, like, the coolest dad out there. God, I love this family.”

 

He was released from the hug and all of the tension had already died down. Michael’s smile was back with full force on his face when he said one of the most sincere “thank you’s” Heere had received in his entire life.

He gave the kid a pat on the shoulder. “Good talk.”

 

Operation, set up son with his bff was still a-go.

 

 

**III.**

It was a Friday when his co-worker had approached him.

“Hey, Heere, listen up.”

Heere had turned his head to the man, holding two tickets in front of him. “You have a son, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do? Why?”

The man, Mr. Rodrigo who was as few cubicles away from his, suddenly shook the tickets in front of his as though he was giving it to him. “Do you watch horror stuff? I won these tickets and I sure as hell don’t want to watch “It” and I don’t suppose you want to either. You’re also the only one I know with a son, and teenage boys are weird.”

Mr. Heere had wanted to fight saying, “they’re not weird, they’re just having a hard time adjusting to their growth spurt!” but once the tickets being offered finally processed in his head, an idea popped out.

“Gee, sir, this is really nice of you. I’m sure my son would love it!”

Mr. Rodgrigo merely let out a small laugh and gave the tickets to the man, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

He walked back to his cubicle, leaving the two tickets on his desk. Heere could not wait to go home.

 

 

“ _You got me tickets for It?”_

Jeremy seemed happy and confused at the same time.

“A co-worker gave it to me! I don’t really like horror though, so I’m not sure if I can watch with you, son.”

 

The kid shook his head, then stared back at the tickets excitedly, “You know who loves horror? Michael!”

Again, no to victory dances, Heere.

“Of course! Just go call him up, that’s scheduled in a few hours.”

At that, the teen had ran to his room. Heere felt satisfied with himself as he sat on the couch and had started watching what was on the television.

 

When the doorbell rang, Heere found Michael standing with a backpack. He was somewhat embarrassed at the sight of his friend’s father but smiled, nonetheless.

“Hey, Mr. Heere! I’m sleeping over tonight, is that cool?”

“Of course! Ready for the movie?”

 

The father had wiggled his eyebrows at him. Michael’s face was red in a span of second. “Mr. Heere. Please don’t ever, _ever_ , do that to me again.”

Heere tried not to pout at that but said okay, either way.

 

“Just be safe, Michael.”

“ _Oh my god.”_

 

Jeremy had went down and greeted Michael, excitedly flashing the tickets. “Dude! Dad got us ‘It’ tickets, can you believe that?”

Michael smiled at his son, all gooey and sweet, Mr. Heere had to look away. “Yeah, dude, that’s real cool.”

His son suddenly let out an exclaimed, “oh” before running back upstairs, saying something about getting his wallet.

 

Once the dad and the best friend were left alone, Michael was staring at the older man, suspiciously.

 

“Hey, Mr. Heere.”

“Yes, Michael?”

“Are you doing what I think you’re doing?”

“I think I am.”

“ _Oh my god.”_

He wiggled his eyebrows again to which was reciprocated with a look that was a mix ‘oddly touched’ and ‘terrified’. Mr. Heere couldn’t help but laugh at that, Michael groaned.

The kid left his bag by the living room couch and soon, the two teenagers had went out. He watched the two walk to Michael’s PT Cruiser when he caught Michael give him one last look. He gave him a thumbs-up and a wink, to which he got a cringe in return. _Rude._

 

His son went home with a dopey smile plastered on his face.

“Hey, kiddo, how was it?”

Jeremy shrugged but the smile was still there, “It was really cool, dad. Thanks for the tickets.” _SCORE._

He was expecting his son to go straight upstairs after that but instead, he felt him sit beside him on the couch. He turned to look at his son, curiously. “You okay, son?”

His son’s shoulder had tensed up a bit as he faced him, “Hey, dad?”

“Yes, son?”

“I think I’m bi?” Jeremy let out a nervous laugh, “I mean, it’s, I don’t know who to talk about it with?” Heere wanted to gasp because _THERE IT IS_ (he knew about sexuality, okay? He’s researched on this, he knew how the internet worked!) but he nodded in understanding instead. “And, like, I don’t know? We’re closer now? We’ve been talking everyday all, and you’re my dad and that’s— that’s not weird, right?”

The adult had shook his head quick, “Of course not! It’s all fine, that’s good. It’s,” he took a breath, “It’s great that you’ve accepted that. You’ve got to know that I’m okay with that, okay, son?”

And Jeremy, _sweet, sweet Jeremy_ , had given him a smile so bright and wide that Mr. Heere couldn’t help but think that if this was what he’d get out of being a decent father, he would do his best in his power to keep his son happy.

“Good talk.”

 

 

**IV.**

Mr. Heere was running late for work, even when it was just quarter to 6 am. There was an important presentation in the office today and the call time for his time was 6:15 and of course, he had slept through his 4 am alarm.

He ran to his car, hurriedly, and started driving, when he remembered he wasn’t able to prepare breakfast. He felt his stomach fall. He was _horrible_.

He knew he didn’t used to make breakfast before he decided to wear the pants in the house, which made everything worse because he _swore_ he wouldn’t go back to that.

He wanted to go find the nearest McDonald’s and get food then go back home but he couldn’t do that. He was running late!

In the spur of the moment, he decided to call the next closest thing Jeremy had for a family member. Michael Mell.

The phone took two rings before he was greeted by a very groggy, “Mr. Heere?”

“Michael!” He was very thankful the kid wasn’t a very deep sleeper. “Michael, son. I’m a _horrible_ father.” He had cried this onto the phone, he didn’t mean to sound dramatic though, but it definitely woke up the kid.

“Now, you take that back, old man! We talked about this! You’re just like your son—”

“Oh, no, no! Listen, I was going to ask you for a favour!”

There was a pause.

 

“Oh. What is it? What time is it even?”

“It’s 6 am and...”

“It’s 6 am? You woke me up at 6 am?”

“Michael! I didn’t make breakfast!”

 

Another pause.

 

“Okay, um. If it helps, my mom doesn’t usually make breakfast every day? Like, I swear Mr. Heere, that isn’t that big of an issue.”

Heere pouted to himself, “But, Michael. I made myself a New Dad Resolution...”

 

Michael paused once more before he started hearing shifting on the other end.

 

“Alright, I’m on my way.”

 

 

Mr. Heere had gotten home by dinner time to find Michael was still there. He and his son were on the dining table, laughing at whatever they were talking about. They were eating take-out to which the father couldn’t really blame them for. They were teenagers, he can’t expect them to cook up a full meal.

It was Jeremy that noticed him first, and he was greeted with a resounding, “Dad!”

Michael followed with an excited wave, “We left you some beef and broccoli, Mr. Heere!” then proceeded to pass a container towards him. He looked at Michael with a smile and did his best to give him a look that could show just how grateful he was. The teen giving him a careless shrug was enough for Heere to believe that the message was received.

The older man had seated down on a vacant seat and accepted the food.

As the instances for this morning flashed through his head, he faced his son with a guilty look, “Son, I wasn’t able to cook breakfast this morning, I’m really sorry.”

He probably sounded ridiculous because as Michael had said earlier that day, it wasn’t really that big of a deal. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was incompetent. It was these small things that Heere wanted to achieve to be a better dad and all.

Jeremy shook his head and let out a chuckle, “Dad, hey, it’s no big deal, I’m old enough to prepare cereal and stuff, y’know?”

“But still, son!”

“And Michael made pancakes!”

 

The father paused at that. He wasn’t expecting Michael to actually _cook_. He gave Michael a startled look to which the teen tried to avoid, concentrating on his food.

 

“He made you pancakes?”

“Yeah! And even brought it upstairs. I had a whole breakfast in bed!”

 

Michael’s face, during this, was burning red. Heere felt himself smiling and the urge to let out a laugh started building in his chest. He wanted to give Michael a big high-five because that’s how youngsters did it nowadays.

 

“A whole breakfast in bed, you say?” Jeremy nodded enthusiastically. “He even made pancake art? Who makes pancake art?”

His son suddenly went about his day and how he did during play rehearsals. He talked of Literature and how Michael was his partner, while in Chemistry, he and Christine got paired up. Mr. Heere listened to all of them carefully and before he knew it, hours have passed and Michael needed to go.

 

Jeremy walked him to the door and once he closed the door and went upstairs, Mr. Heere ran out to Michael’s car and knocked on its window before he could drive away. Michael had rolled down the window, a suspicious look (he looks at him like that a lot, geez.) on his face.

“Okay, Mr. Heere, whatever you’re going to say, just, please tone down on making fun of me.”

The father had grinned at him though. He raised his hand, palm facing Michael and the other teen’s face just got redder. “ _Oh god,_ are you asking for a high-five?”

“Isn’t that what you teens do today? When you do something good?”

Michael, at that, started laughing, “You are just precious, Mr. Heere.” He gave the older man a high-five, far too hard, that got both of them wincing.

Heere looked at his hand, turning to a shade of red, “I’m not sure I liked doing that.” He shrugged though and faced Michael again. “I just wanted to commend your efforts, son. A whole breakfast in be—“

“And that is my cue to leave. Thank you for today, Mr. Heere.”

“I’m just saying, Michael, I’m pretty impre—”

“Goodbye, Mr. Heere! Have a great, wonderful night of not embarrassing teenagers for once—“

“And for next time, I should tell you that Jeremy loves strawberries on his pancakes—“

“I already know that, sir.”

 

“And honey,” the two had said this the same time.

 

The teen and adult stared at each other wide-eyed, before bursting out into laughter. This was good. Michael was a great kid and this just showed how much he loved Jeremy. Anyone who loves Jeremy this much is surely part of his family, and he will, no doubt, treat him like a son.

 

“Good night, Michael.”

“Night, Mr. Heere, see you tomorrow.”

 

Mr. Heere went back in.

 

 

**V.**

 

Mr. Heere was locking up the front door when he saw a figure by the window. Alarmed, he quickly checked outside to find none other than Michael Mell, looking lost and caught.

 

“Michael?”

 

The boy looked embarrassed. Heere couldn’t help but feel concerned though. It was 11 pm. The kid should be in bed by now or something, doing homework or sleeping. He gave Michael a soft smile before asking if he wanted to come in. Surprisingly though, the teen had rejected the offer.

“I— I came to talk to you, sir!”

 

That, he wasn’t expecting. He opened his mouth to ask but he was beaten.

 

“I’m in love with your son.”

 

Then there was silence. The father stared at him, confused. He didn’t know what to say. He thought they’d established that. Heere let out a cough before going for an unsure, “Yes? I already knew that, Michael.” He blinked at him, “I mean, I have been teasing you about it for a while now? I’ve even been helping you out a bit—“

“N-No, Mr. Heere, I’m? I’m in love with your son. I thought it was a crush? A long crush? A really, really intense boy crush?” Michael suddenly started messing his hair, “But? I’m, like, really hecking in love with him???” _Oh dear._

The kid started pacing, “And I always thought it’d disappear, ya know? Because your son doesn’t feel that way, and I can’t—“

“Whoa, whoa, hey, Michael. Deep breaths, son,” The boy had followed his counting.

 

Silence washed over the two. It took a few minutes before Michael spoke again.

“I’m in love with Jeremy.”

 

Mr. Heere couldn’t help but smile at the boy’s confused state. He was messing his hair hard like it would help with whatever was going through his head right now. He shook his head and squeezed the youngster’s shoulder.

“And what do you do when you love somebody, Michael?”

Michael’s jaw dropped, eyes bugging out like he couldn’t believe what he just said.

 

“Are you actually telling me to do something about it?”

“Yes, I am.”

 

Michael had his back hunched, hands dug in his pockets, as he concentrated on the ground. He was a tall kid, near Heere’s height, but he’s got to keep reminding himself that he was still just a kid. At that moment, he looked really young.

Michael abruptly stood straight, something suddenly gleaming in his eyes. He gave the older man a big grin before giving him a bear hug. “You’re the best, Mr. Heere.”

Once he released, he started running to the side of the road where he suddenly pulled up a bicycle. Christ, he rode a bike going here for a crisis. Teenagers really are something else.

 

 

**VI.**

Heere just got home to find Jeremy sitting on the living room couch, wrapped in a blanket.

Just. Sitting there.

The television was off. It freaked the father out a bit. Even the lights were off.

Shakily, he greeting him with a soft voice, “Hey, kiddo. What’s up? You okay?”

 

The father had turned the lights on to find his son’s face fully red. He was staring at Heere with wide eyes, looking panicked.

“Son, what’s wrong???” The dad hurriedly went and sat beside his son, even started rubbing at his back considering how much he looked like he was about to cry. “I don’t know what’s up, but you look like you’re about crying, you can talk about it with me, okay?”

Out of nowhere, Jeremy let out a groan and covered his face.

“Michael.”

 

Heere was startled, “Michael? Is Michael okay?”

The son shook his head, “No.” Then another groan, “N-No, ‘c-cause I probably messed up a-and I don’t even know wh-why I did it but—“

“H-Hey, son, breathe. What did you do?”

 

Jeremy’s bottom lip had started shaking as he spoke, “H-He—.”

“W-We were playing videogames upstairs and— mmmmmreeehhhh,” his face got even redder, “We beat a level we’ve been trying to beat for hours and when we beat it, we were super happy? We were laughing and he suddenly hugged and I hugged back and we were jumping and,” he choked and let out fits of coughs. Once he was okay, he looked straight into his dad’s eyes, tears stinging the corners, “H-He kissed me.”

Whoa. _Whoa._ “He—“

“A-And I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t get to say anything,” he let out a shaky breath, “A-And, I was shocked and I-I froze and he was up and saying sorry and now, he’s gone and he probably thinks I rejected him but,” he let out a hiccup, “But I really _really_ love Michael.”

 

At that, Heere couldn’t help but feel determination. He stood up and pulled his son up as well, and started walking to the front door.

“D-Dad?!”

He didn’t talk, he can explain in the car.    

 

Once they were in, Jeremy still had his blanket and was staring at his dad, “Dad, what’s happening?”

The father looked at Jeremy, “We are going to Michael Mell’s house.”

“WHAT?” his voice cracked horribly, Heere had to wince at the sound. His son had started panicking and even shaking that he had to park at the side for a sec. He turned to look at Jeremy on the passenger’s seat.

“Son, you know Michael won’t be mad at you, right?”

Jeremy pouted, “You don’t know that.”

“Oh, but I do. He’s basically family. He’s been with you for 12 years. He could be upset but I’m sure he won’t be mad.”

His son was still quiet at that so he decided to continue, “And when you explain to him what happened and how you feel, then, I’m sure he’s going to understand it fully. Okay?”

There was mumbling under his son’s breath before the kid covered his face with the blanket. Through the blanket, there was a muffled, “I’m scared.”

“Of Michael?”

 

A pregnant pause.

 

“Of screwing up.”

 

Heere frowned at that, “Son, you won’t mess up—“

 

“No, but you see, I _will._ ” Jeremy removed the blanket from his face and faced his dad with wide, manic eyes, “I’ve already screwed up so many times, Dad. So many times and he’s still there. He stuck with me th-through my crush with Chrstine and even helped me be cooler. He supported me to get that tic-tac and th-the SQUIP made me ignore him for weeks, and he _still_ saved me. I was absent for a whole week after that and he brought my home works every day. He continued giving me advices for Christine until she broke up with me. He kissed me and I messed it up and now, _now,_ I _love_ him. And he deserves someone so much better, Dad.” Jeremy had started crying.

The father’s heart broke.

One thing about them, as father and sons, was that they talk more now. They open up with happy things during the day, and they’ve talked about the past. They’ve talked about the SQUIP, yes. But only now was he able to fully see its after-effects on his son. He had forgotten how much the SQUIP had affected him and Michael. How the two had spent the next two weeks by hip. How Jeremy, though happier, seemed more careful. How Michael’s been treating him with more love, and more tender.

Slowly, he pulled his son into a hug. Jeremy kept talking, though, “H-He’s going to see how much of a fuck up I am and he’s going to stop being there and he’s going to get tired.”

Heere shook his head and hugged him tighter, “Son. You deserve good things. You did things but they don’t define you, Jere. Everyone’s forgiven you. Michael’s forgiven you. Do you know why?”

He shook his head. “Because we love you. We love you with all our hearts, through your ups and downs. And we accept you, no matter what you do and no matter what you did.” He felt his son hug back. “We’re going to keep loving you, too. Years and years are going to pass by and we’ll always be there for you. Even when you get arrested, but please don’t go that far.” A giggle was the response which _score_ but, “And if there’s anyone out there who I’m sure will stay by your side even when you kill someone, it’s Michael Mell, son. Boy would bring the moon to the sun just for you if you asked, won’t even need to think about it.”

 

It was silent for a few seconds before Jeremy spoke up again.

“C-Could we go to Michael?”

Heere nodded.

 

They pulled by the Mell’s driveway, 10 in the evening. The father let himself stay inside the car as he watched his son ring the doorbell to be answered by a Michael, looking shocked.

Heere let out a laugh as he saw his son suddenly tackle Michael in the front door, making the two crash to the ground. He shook head and let out a sigh.

He pulled out his phone, texted Mrs. Mell about Jeremy sleeping over and sending his son a text to fix things tonight and be back tomorrow morning. He sent Michael a threatening, “You’re going to have the scary dad talk after tonight, buddy.” And a follow up of, “Let’s have breakfast together tomorrow.”

 

It’s a Friday night but Heere hoped the two would sleep early. Teenagers were so weird.

A thought popped in his head and sent Michael another text.

“Be safe.”

 

That morning, he woke up with a long thank you from Michael and a bunch of letters. Jeremy had sent him a, “We’re okay, dad, I love you.”

The two arrived by 8 am, when Heere was finished cooking.

They ate together, all smiles, and it was easily one of the best mornings of Mr. Heere’s life.

**Author's Note:**

> all the love


End file.
